Ex-Arizona lawmaker Scott Bundgaard files $10M claim against Phoenix

A former state legislator who resigned in January over a domestic violence incident involving his ex-girlfriend filed a $10 million notice of claim Friday against Phoenix police and city officials.

KNXV

KNXV

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PHOENIX - A former state legislator who resigned in January over a domestic violence incident involving his ex-girlfriend filed a $10 million notice of claim Friday against Phoenix police and city officials.

Scott Bundgaard stepped down before he had to testify to a Senate Ethics Committee on whether he should be disciplined for the February 2011 incident.

Police said Bundgaard wasn't arrested because he claimed legislative immunity, which bars arrests of lawmakers for most charges while the Legislature is in session.

In a 29-page claim, a lawyer for Bundgaard said the Peoria Republican didn't invoke legislative immunity.

Bundgaard's claim also accuses the police department of altering police reports and "improperly and intentionally" reporting he "was the perpetrator, rather than the victim, of domestic violence" and police improperly provided information for use in the Senate Ethics Committee proceedings.

The claim, which is the precursor to a lawsuit, alleges that Bundgaard's civil rights were violated, that he was defamed and that police were negligent in their actions.

Bundgaard's claim seeks money for direct and consequential damages, special damages, punitive damages and attorneys' fees. It states that since the Senate hearings, "he has lost his Senate seat, his salary and benefits including health insurance, and his political career."

His resignation on Jan. 6 ended an ethics case that could have resulted in a recommendation that the full Senate issue a letter of reprimand, formally censure Bundgaard or expel him.

Bundgaard's ex-girlfriend, Aubry Ballard, testified that he struck her twice and threw her cellphone out the window while they drove and then stopped on a Phoenix freeway and pulled her out of his car.

Ballard said she reacted to being hit in the chest by slapping Bundgaard in the face. Both had cuts and bruises after the confrontation, she said.

Ballard testified that the confrontation followed an argument over his decision to take dancing lessons while failing to take the time to get counseling for a previous physical altercation.

Phoenix police officers testified that Bundgaard demanded to be released from handcuffs after they detained him and reeked of alcohol but refused field sobriety tests. He also bluntly denied drinking, a sergeant testified -- a statement the sergeant said he "absolutely" didn't believe.

Bundgaard would have been arrested on possible domestic violence charges and suspicion of DUI if not for the immunity law, the sergeant and an officer testified.

Bundgaard denied assaulting Ballard. He later pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor endangerment charge under a plea agreement. It included dismissal of an assault charge and a requirement that he get domestic violence counseling.

Bundgaard was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1994 and the state Senate in 1996, serving there for six years before staging an unsuccessful run for the U.S. House in 2002. He returned to the state in 2011.